Narrated by a one-handed juggler who moonlights as a drug trafficker, a talented young boy who longs to escape the shadow of his abusive father, and a police inspector whose overzealous efforts to solve a murder result in a series of calamitous missteps, Jonah Man explores the dark side of life behind the curtain, where artists resort to the most extreme measures--including drug dealing, self-mutilation, even murder--to prolong their time in the limelight. Resurrecting the lost language of vaudeville--a "Jonah Man" was a performer who, despite his best efforts, had stalled in his career--Jonah Man is a gripping portrait of people torn between their greatest hopes and fears, while trying to keep reality at bay.